Category: Narrative Craft

Some ideas vanish. Not just the little ones—the passing thoughts, the lines of dialogue you forget before you can write them down. No, this is something bigger. This is the entire story that felt so real, so undeniable, that you knew you were going to write it. And then, one day, you realize… it’s gone….

Some books never make it onto the page. They exist in the margins—half-formed outlines, scattered notes, whispered thoughts that never get written down. You tell yourself you’ll write them someday, when you have time, when you’re ready. But weeks pass, then months, then years, and the book remains exactly where it started: unwritten, untouched, invisible….

Some words feel warm. Some sentences taste sharp. Some stories have colors, even when they’re just black ink on a page. Writers don’t just think in words—we think in textures, shapes, emotions. Sometimes a sentence doesn’t work, and we can’t explain why—it just doesn’t feel right. Sometimes a character’s name sounds wrong until we change…

Some stories feel complete in your head. You can see the whole thing—the characters, the twists, the final moment where it all comes together. It’s there, fully formed. Until you try to write it down. And then—nothing. The story that felt so vivid a moment ago vanishes. The outline in your head dissolves the second…

Every writer has an unwritten book—the one that exists only in their mind, pristine and flawless, untouched by the mess of actual writing. In your head, it’s already brilliant. The characters are rich, the plot is airtight, the themes are profound. But the second you try to write it down, something happens. It changes. It…

Writers and caffeine have a relationship that borders on the supernatural. It’s not just about staying awake—coffee (or tea, or whatever your stimulant of choice may be) seems to alter something in the brain. Words come faster, thoughts sharpen, ideas connect in ways they didn’t an hour ago. It’s not just energy, it’s acceleration—like caffeine…

Writers talk about words having power. But what about the ink that holds them? It sounds dramatic—this idea that ink might absorb more than just meaning, that it could hold onto something deeper. But think about it: writing is an act of transference. A writer takes something intangible—thoughts, emotions, memories—and pours them into physical form….

Plot holes exist on a spectrum. Some are small enough that a reader will skim past them without a second thought—a character who was holding a coffee cup suddenly isn’t, a door that was locked in one scene is magically open in the next. These are the paper cuts of storytelling: tiny, annoying, but ultimately…